After Ollie's Bargain Outlet pre-announced that its holiday period sales increased 16.6%, with a comparable store sales increase of 7.1%, Stephens analyst Rick Nelson estimated that the company's full year guidance implies Q4 same-store sales growth of 6%, which he noted was well above his prior estimate of 3%. In a note partially titled "Strong Holiday Period Smashes Expectations," Nelson said he continues to see Ollie's unique experience being insulated from internet competition and keeps a $100 price target and Overweight rating on the shares.

01/02/19

JEFF

01/02/19NO CHANGEJEFF

Buy Gap, sell L Brands are Jefferies' best Consumer ideas for 2019

In the Consumer space, Jefferies analyst Randal Konik says his best ideas for 2019 are buying Gap (GPS) and selling L Brands (LB). The analyst recommends using the late 2018 selloff as an opportunity to get long consumer names for 2019. His other top Buy ideas are American Eagle (AEO), Boot Barn (BOOT), Capri Holdings (CPRI), Five Below (FIVE), Foot Locker (FL), Fox Factory (FOXF), Acushnet Holdings (GOLF), Kohl's (KSS), Manchester United (MANU), Ollie's Bargain Outlet (OLLI), Tiffany (TIF), Urban Outfitters (URBN), Under Armour (UAA) and Yeti (YETI). On L Brands, Konik continues to believe Victoria's Secret "is broken," Pink "is a fad" that's sales will get cut in half, and Bath & Body Works is at a "cyclical peak with daunting compares ahead." On the flip side, the analyst thinks Gap will be one of the top S&P 500 stocks in 2019. He recommends "aggressively" buying the shares at current levels.

Piper Jaffray analyst Peter Keith views shares of Ollie's Bargain Outlet as attractive following the post-earnings selloff. Ollie's is one of the few retailers that can potentially benefit from tariffs, as supply chain disruption could lead to over-ordering and/or cancelled orders, and the company is actively pursuing close-out opportunities in this regard, Keith tells investors in a research note. He points out the company reported "strong" Q3 results and raised its 2018 guidance. The analyst raised his price target for Ollie's to $104 from $103 and maintains an Overweight rating on the name.

Loop Capital analyst Anthony Chukumba lowered his price target for Ollie's Bargain Outlet to $80 from $85 and reiterates a Hold rating on the shares following the company's Q3 results. The stock is "priced for near perfection" yet the Q3 report and revised fiscal 2018 outlook "were far from perfect," Chukumba tells investors in a post-earnings research note. The analyst says customer transactions declined in Q3 and that he does not find the year-over-year operating margin expansion "compelling." Further, he considers Ollie's implied Q4 comp guidance "underwhelming" given management's continued bullish commentary on its toy opportunity. Ollie's Bargain Outlet closed Tuesday down 5%, or $4.40, to $86.83 and traded down another 4% to $82.11 post the earnings report.

KBHKB Home

$23.66

-0.21 (-0.88%)

02/28/19

EVER

02/28/19DOWNGRADETarget $24EVERIn Line

KB Home downgraded to In Line on valuation at Evercore ISI

As previously reported, Evercore ISI downgraded KB Home to In Line from Outperform and maintained a $24 price target. Analyst Stephen Kim said the "easy money" has been made since he upgraded the homebuilders back in October with the group up over 25%. His checks also indicate the Spring Selling season is off to a slow start and looking further out, Kim sees headline risk from leadership changes at the Federal Housing Administration and the Federal Housing Fiance Administration that could lead to a slowdown in high-DTI agency lending.

Catch up on today's top five analyst initiations with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Take-Two (TTWO), Electronic Arts (EA), Glu Mobile (GLUU) were initiated with an Overweight at Stephens, while the analyst also initiated Zynga (ZNGA) and Ubisoft (UBSFY) with an Equal Weight. 2. Domino's Pizza (DPZ) initiated with an Outperform at Cowen. 3. Okta (OKTA) and Zscaler (SZ) initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray. 4. Lennar (LEN), D.R. Horton (DHI) and NVR (NVR) initiated with a Buy and KB Home (KBH), PulteGroup (PHM), Hovnanian (HOV) and Toll Brothers (TOL) initiated with a Neutral at Buckingham. 5. VMware (VMW) reinstated with a Neutral at Goldman SachsThis list is just a portion of The Fly's analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

According to a regulatory filing, Ryan Graves informed Uber Technologies of his intention to resign as a member of the company's board of directors, effective as of May 27, 2019, including any committees of the board of directors on which he serves. Graves' resignation was not the result of any disagreement between Graves and the company, its management, board of directors or any committee thereof, or with respect to any matter relating to the company's operations, policies or practices, according to the filing.

U.S. Energy announced that on May 21, Nasdaq notified the company that as a result of not having received its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31. 2019, and because the company is delinquent in filing its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, the company does not comply with the requirements of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) for continued listing on the Exchange. This notification has no effect on the listing of the company's common stock at this time. However, pursuant to the notice, the company was required to submit a plan by May 23, 2019 to comply with the Exchange's requirements for continued listing.

Apple is being sued by customers alleging that the U.S. tech giant is unlawfully disclosing and selling information about users' iTunes purchases as well as their personal data, Bloomberg's Robert Burnson reports. The customers claim that such alleged practices are contrary to Apple's promise in advertising that "What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone," Burnson notes. Reference Link

SuperCom received a notification from Nasdaq for not having timely filed its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018, as previously disclosed by the company on May 16, 2019. The company does not comply with the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1). This notice from Nasdaq has no effect currently on the listing of the company's common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

U.S. Energy announced that Nasdaq notified the company that as a result of not having received the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31 and because the company is delinquent in filing its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, the company does not comply with the requirements of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250 for continued listing on the exchange. This notification has no effect on the listing of the company's common stock at this time. However, pursuant to the notice, the company was required to submit a plan by May 23 to comply with the exchange's requirements for continued listing. The company has submitted the plan to the exchange. If the exchange accepts the company's Plan, the exchange may grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days from the Form 10-K's due date, or until October 14 to regain compliance. The company continues to work toward the filing of the Form 10-Q and the Form 10-K with the SEC as soon as practicable.

Qiagen (QGEN) announced the launch of its therascreen PIK3CA RGQ PCR Kit after it received U.S. regulatory approval as a companion diagnostic to aid in identifying breast cancer patients eligible for treatment with PIQRAY, a newly approved therapy developed and marketed by Novartis (NVS). The therascreen PIK3CA Kit is the first companion diagnostic assay to obtain premarket approval from the FDA for use in any cancer indication for detection of activating mutations in the PIK3CA gene. It is also the first FDA approved assay for guiding treatment decisions in breast cancer using plasma specimens as a liquid biopsy.

Brazil's ANAC said it has suspended all flights and operations of Avianca Brasil in the South American nation as a precuartionary measure, Reuters reports. The move follows Avianca's filing for bankruptcy in late 2018, the report says. "All the flights are suspended until the company proves it has the capacity to maintain operations safely," ANAC said. Reference Link

Apple has bought Tueo Health, a start-up that was making a system to help parents monitor asthma symptoms in sleeping kids, CNBC's Christina Farr and Steve Kovach report, citing a person familiar with the deal. It is not clear how much the U.S. tech giant paid for the start-up, the authors note. Reference Link

A review of Boeing's grounded 737 MAX aircraft has expanded to include emergency procedures used by pilots on earlier models of the plane, further delaying its return to service, the Wall Street Journal's Andy Pasztor reports, citing U.S. government officials. The FAA hasn't questioned the safety of older aircraft currently in service, but the broadened review will play a major role in adding months to the time expected to get the grounded fleet of 737 MAX jets back in the skies, Pasztor notes. As part of the FAA's safety analysis of a proposed software fix for the fleet, the agency is also weighing changes to how pilots of the entire 737 family are trained to respond when the flight-control computer or other systems suddenly push the jet's nose down, the author says. Reference Link

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the SPX option derived measure of implied volatility, fell 1.07 today to close at 15.85, while the underlying SPX index gained 3.82 to close at $2826.06, a 0.14% increase. 274,267 VIX option contracts traded, 38.73% of the typical daily volume for the product. Calls made up 74.0% of the volume.

Volume was average for this time of day. Breadth was mixed with issues and volume bullish while new highs to new lows were bearish (negative divergence). Advancing Issues: 2009 / Declining Issues: 1048 -- for a ratio of 1.9 to 1. Advancing Volume: 915,942,000 / Declining Volume: 681,710,000 -- for a ratio of 1.3 to 1. New 52-Week Highs: 57 / New 52-Week Lows: 114.

Volume was below average for this time of day. Breadth was bullish across the board. Advancing Issues: 1963 / Declining Issues: 956 -- for a ratio of 2.1 to 1. Advancing Volume: 1,549,354,000 / Declining Volume: 986,891,000 -- for a ratio of 1.6 to 1. New 52-Week Highs: 138 / New 52-Week Lows: 89.

Regional Health Properties, Inc. announcement concerning the company's noncompliance with the continued listing standards of NYSE American LLC. On May 21, 2019, the company received an official notice of noncompliance from the Exchange stating that the company is not in compliance with the Exchange's continued listing standards under the timely filing criteria outlined in Section 1007 of the Exchange's company Guide because the company failed to timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2019, which was due to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than May 20, 2019. For the reasons previously disclosed in its Form 12b-25 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 16, 2019, the company has not timely filed the Delayed Form 10-Q because additional time is needed to finalize the Delayed Form 10-Q and furnish the XBRL Interactive Data File exhibits required by Item 601b101 of Regulation S-K. The company is actively working to complete the Delayed Form 10-Q and intends to file the Delayed Form 10-Q under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, within the next thirty days. As a result of the foregoing, the company has become subject to the procedures and requirements of Section 1007 of the Company Guide. During the six-month period from the date of the Filing Delinquency, the Exchange will monitor the company and the status of the Delayed Form 10-Q and any subsequent reports until the Filing Delinquency is cured. If the company fails to cure the Filing Delinquency within the Initial Cure Period, the Exchange may, in its sole discretion, allow the company's securities to be traded for up to an additional six-month period, depending on the company's specific circumstances. If the Exchange determines that an Additional Cure Period is not appropriate, suspension and delisting procedures will commence in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 1010 of the Company Guide.